• Hi, I’m Brad Abare

  I'm a make-it-happen guy working with big idea people. I design teams and orchestrate strategy so that great ideas I believe in get done.
  
  I am Jamaica's husband, Foursquare's comm director, Personality's founder, and a catalyst for CFCC.
  
  
• Search for:

• Archives (by category)

  Select Category Abare News Big Ideal Brad Works God, Faith & Spirituality Hot Topic Inspiration Leadership Life’s Journey Media Politics Rant Reading Room Stuff I Like The City Wisdom

• Archives (by month)

  Select Month March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 October 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003

• Recent Comments

  • liz on Ahead of the Curve
  • Ben Eige on Managers, Ministers, Manipulators
  • Joshua Cody on Self-Sacrifice Always Wins
  • abby on Unity to Begin, Not End
  • Bernie on What Business Are You In?

• Subscribe

  Add my RSS feed to your reader.

Thanks to Fortune’s Patricia Sellers, it looks like I have another person to add to my list of people to watch. An early adman and one of the brains behind the launch of MTV, Tom Freston was at Viacom for 19 years before Summer Redstone fired him. It was time “to make a change,” said Redstone on Labor Day in 2006.

Thirteen days after he was fired, Freston flew to Singapore, then on to Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, and China with his wife, Kathy, her mother, Joan, and his brother, Bill. Ever since, Freston, now 63, has been roaming the planet, visiting 30 other countries, mainly in Africa and Asia. “You really realize that you’re not at the center of things,” he tells Fortune. “You’re less than a pinpoint on the map.”

Freston has since been tapped by Oprah Winfrey and Bono. Oprah wants Freston to run her new network and Bono needs help organizing ONE and Product RED.

But Freston isn’t in any hurry to commit. Instead, he’s helping Oprah and Bono in a consulting role, and pacing himself accordingly.

These days [Freston] is putting his money into an orphanage and medical clinic in Southeast Asia and reconstruction projects in Afghanistan, where he once lived. Last summer, if you had the right map, you could have found Freston running around Kabul with a cameraman, researching one of two film projects there. Says [DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg]: “In his heart and his gut, Tom is a mad adventurer.”

I’m inspired by people who know their strengths and leverage them to help others. Not because they’re asked or cajoled, but because they’re compelled and centered.

Read the full article.

Comments